Koukou Tekkenden Tough (franchise)

Kōkō Tekken-den Tough (高校鉄拳伝タフ, Kōkō Tekkenden Tafu; literally: "High School Iron Fist Legend Tough"), is a martial arts manga series written and illustrated by Tetsuya Saruwatari. A sequel series, titled simply as Tough (TOUGH—タフ—, Tafu) was introduced in 2004 which continues the story further after the first series ended its run. The third series, Tough: Ryuu wo Tsugu Otoko (TOUGH 龍を継ぐ男, TOUGH Ryū wo Tsugu Otoko; literally: "Tough: The Man Who Inherits The Dragon"), starring one of illegitimate children of Kiryu Miyazawa, has been serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Playboy since December 21, 2015. A spin-off series, Tough Gaiden: Oton (タフ外伝 OTON, Tafu Gaiden OTON), has been serialized in Business Jump since 2004.

Plot[]

The story revolves around Kiichi "Kiibou" Miyazawa, a 17-year-old teenage high school student and his father, Seiko Miyazawa, who is training him in the family's secret martial art, Nadashinkage-ryuu, a fighting style that was created around the end of the Meiji Era Japan. The style itself uses punches, kicks, throws, grappling, as well as knowledge of striking pressure points and vital points on the human body. With a passion for martial arts, Kiibou is striving to become strong by testing his skills against various fighters from different areas of Japan, as well as the world, via street fights and tournaments.

In the second part of the story, the series starts two years after the end of Koukou Tekkenden Tough. The main protagonist Kiichi Miyazawa, known as "Kiibou", became the heir of his family's martial art Nadashinkage-ryuu after the previous one, his father Seiko Miyazawa, suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of his evil twin brother and Kiichi's uncle Kiryuu. In order to pay for hospital bills Kiichi has turned to fighting in illegal underground matches called Dark Fights in which almost anything is allowed. Kiichi has become a mainstay in these fights, not only because of his outstanding victories but that he refuses to seriously injure any of his opponents, upholding his father's teachings of never killing anyone.

During one particular match in which Kiichi was on the verge of losing, his uncle appeared only to see the progress of his nephew's training and to tempt him into using a killing technique on his adversary. Refusing to give into such treachery Kiichi manages to score a win. It was during this fight that it is revealed that Kiichi mistakenly killed an opponent during a martial arts tournament. That and the fact that he crippled his father are the main reasons that Kiichi must defeat his uncle.

At the end of Kiichi's last match a secret sect of monks called the Hagyuu have sent one of their own students to end the Nadashinkage style and its current practitioners. Minoru Suzuki is the one chosen to defeat Kiichi. Elsewhere several benefactors have formed into starting another martial arts tournament called the Hyper Battle, which is held once a year in order to find the world's strongest fighter, a title which is held by one called the "Battle King". Kiichi at first seems uninterested but later relents and starts training in order to participate. After challenging students at a karate dojo, he comes face to face with Minoru Suzuki, the one sent to eliminate him. After testing their abilities, Minoru starts to respect him and asks Kiichi to take him to meet his father. It is here that it is shown the consequences of his losing to Kiryuu. Seiko Miyazawa "The Quiet Tiger" is shown in a childlike state, barely able to feed himself and at times necessitating the use of a wheelchair. He is suffering from a condition called Apraxia.

Wanting to help the man who once defeated the Hagyuu, Minoru Suzuki starts treating him by himself with knowledge of acupuncture and pressure point massage, in the past Seiko was challenged by the Hagyu school but made the fight look like it ended in a draw in order to make the school not look bad, Minoru was one of the few to take notice. After much treatment at Minoru’s hands Seiko starts to recover from all his conditions baffling all the doctors at his miraculous results. Seiko gives a heartwarming thanks to his son Kiichi for taking care of him these past two years, Kiichi tells his father that the one who cured him has already left, Minoru is seen walking away with an invitation to the Hyper Battle. Later that night, Kiichi bids his father a farewell as he goes to participate at the Japanese preliminaries for the Hyper Battle.

Meanwhile at the sacred Shikabane Mountain many fighters gather at the preliminaries for the Hyper Battle. Among them are many fighters of high renown to the lesser known are fighting for a chance to compete. Kiichi during the extent of 24 hours battles many opponents in order to guarantee a spot in the Hyper Battle, becoming a finalist. Meanwhile, Seiko is shown training once again but he seems to be wracked with feelings of revenge and anger towards Kiryuu for what he did to him, and vows to get even with him. After being discharged from the hospital, he goes to the apparent resting place of his oldest brother Sonou Miyazawa, who was thought to have been killed by Kiryuu many years before and ends up being abducted by a mysterious group of individuals.

Afterwards Kiichi travels to New York City where the Hyper Battle will be held. After meeting up with an old friend Choushou he goes to Madison Square Garden where the competition will take place. He encounters many fighters, among them Minoru, Kiryuu who will do an exhibition fight, his father Seiko who was training with a group called "Team D" and the Japanese Brazilian fighter Marcio "Jet" Naitou who is also a deaf mute. It is at this tournament Kiichi have to ultimately have to push the limits of his strength and skill in order to better himself as a fighter and martial artist. He becomes the head of the Nadashinkage school by defeating his father the "Quiet Tiger" Seiko Miyazawa. It is also revealed during the battle that Kiichi is adopted. During the battle against his father Kiichi pushes his limits once again and masters the Tiger Shoot technique, which was previously thought to only reside within those with pure blood of the Nadashinkage since the Nadashinkage is the only clan that possesses the three special physical conditions: Dragon Foot, Tiger Foot and Falcon Foot possessed by Kiryuu, Seiko, and Sonou respectively. Kiichi then faces Jet in the finals and although he is being pushed back the whole fight, he manages to win at the last second by redirecting the energy of Jet's punch to strike back at him, winning the tournament. It is revealed during this fight that Kiryuu is the biological father of Jet, and after the battle, while Kiryuu fights the mob enforces of Gambino and Josefino, one of the henchmen gets a clear shot at Kiryuu. The bullet seems to be headed straight for an unaware Kiryuu but Jet jumps in front of the bullet at the last second, which pierces him in the throat and it is confirmed in the next chapter that Jet has died from blood loss.

Manga[]

Main Series[]

Koukou Tekkenden Tough
Main article: Koukou Tekkenden Tough Kōkō Tekken-den Tough (高校鉄拳伝タフ, Kōkō Tekkenden Tafu; literally: "High School Iron Fist Legend Tough") is a manga, written and illustrated by Tetsuya Saruwatari and serialized in the Shueisha weekly seinen magazine Young Jump. Serial chapters of the manga were collected into 42 tankoubon volumes, released between March 13, 1994 and July 18, 2003. Viz Media released six volumes of the first manga series under its "Editor's Choice" imprint from January 4, 2005, to April 16, 2006. These volumes omitted some chapters and artwork for graphic violence, and have been discontinued.
Tough
Main article: Tough Tough (TOUGH—タフ—, Tafu) is the sequel series of Koukou Tekkenden Tough manga, written and illustrated by Tetsuya Saruwatari, serialized in the Shueisha weekly seinen magazine Young Jump, and has been collected into 39 volumes, released between January 18, 2004 and August 17, 2012.
Tough: Ryuu wo Tsugu Otoko
Main article: Tough: Ryuu wo Tsugu Otoko Tough: Ryuu wo Tsugu Otoko (TOUGH　龍を継ぐ男, TOUGH Ryū o Tsugu Otoko; literally: "Tough: The Man Who Inherits The Dragon") is the third series, written and illustrated by Tetsuya Saruwatari, serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Playboy since December 21, 2015.

Side stories[]

Tough Gaiden: Oton
Main article: Tough Gaiden: Oton Tough Gaiden: Oton (タフ外伝 OTON, Tafu Gaiden OTON) is the side story, written and illustrated by Tetsuya Saruwatari, serialized in Business Jump, released between 2004 and 2005.
Devils×Devil
Main article: Devils×Devil Devils×Devil (Devils×Devil) is the side story, written and illustrated by Tetsuya Saruwatari, serialized in Weekly Young Jump in 2013.
Tough Bangai-hen: Yawara no Shou
Main article: Tough Bangai-hen: Yawara no Shou Tough Bangai-hen: Yawara no Shou (TOUGH 番外編柔の章, TOUGH Bangai-hen Yawara no Shō) is a side story of the Tough series, written and illustrated by Tetsuya Saruwatari, serialized in Paralympic Jump in 2017.
Tough Gaiden: Oton (2021)
Main article: Tough Gaiden: Oton (2021) Tough Gaiden: Oton (タフ外伝 OTON, Tafu Gaiden OTON) is a oneshot to the Tough Gaiden: Oton side story, released in Grand Jump in 2021, so far it has never been found anywhere other than a magazine and at the moment it is treaten as a separate work.

Related works[]

Kizu Darake no Jinsei
Main article: Kizu Darake no Jinsei Kizu Darake no Jinsei (傷だらけの仁清, Kizu Darake no Jinsei) is a manga series whose main protagonist is a character who first appears in the Oton series, serialized in Business Jump, released between 2004 and 2011.
Tough: Starter Book
Main article: Tough: Starter Book Tough: Starter Book (TOUGH―タフ― STARTER BOOK, TOUGH ― Tafu ― STARTER BOOK) is a compilation book featuring the first chapters of each series arc, released on May 15, 2014 by Young Jump Comic Digital and published by Shueisha to Android, IOS, and PC platforms.

Anime[]

Shootfighter Tekken
Main article: Shootfighter Tekken Shootfighter Tekken, originally as Koukou Tekkenden Tough (高校鉄拳伝タフ, Kōkō Tekkenden Tafu), is a three part OVA anime series based on the Koukou Tekkenden Tough manga series. The series was released in 2002 in Japan and later in North America.

Game[]

Throughout the years of the Tough franchise's existence, only one video game based on the series was released. The game is named Tough: Dark Fight (TOUGH DARK FIGHT タフダークファイト, Tafu Dāku Faito) and was developed and published by Konami. The game was released for the PlayStation 2 console in Japan on December 1, 2005. The Tough: Dark Fight game takes place in between the two missing years between the two manga series.